Do you have chronic Pain?
Then Tame The Beast might be the answer.
If pain is having a significant impact on your life. Or you know someone who is experiencing it. Attending a pain clinic and establishing a pain management plan can be a real life-changing experience. Key aspects include:
What is The Tame The Beast Pain Theory and how it can help?
What is a Pain Management Plan?
When and how is this put together?
What does it include?*
This blog is a personal one, after a referral to a Pain Clinic. Unsure what this would entail and that I was being ‘passed on’ and ‘misunderstood’ I did what we usually do these days. Googled it! My thoughts changed pretty quickly. It became clear that this could be a real opportunity for change. Someone to look at me as me. Consider every medical condition I have. Focus on what works. What doesn’t and then tie it all together. Creating a holistic approach.
What you’ll see here is all information given to me directly from a Pain Specialist Consultant. If pain is a significant factor for you. You have multiple medical specialities are involved in your care. Then consult your local GP or another health professional, who will be able to help you put a plan in place. There are also options to create your plan independently if that is preferable.
First, we need to understand what pain is, and how and why it occurs. The different ways that it manifests and what is causing it. Did you know there are pain scientists? Tame The Beast looks at pain in a very different way. Due to the complexity of this subject matter and the difficult processes involved:
In Part One we specifically look at:
The Tame The Beast pain theory.
How to know if my pain system is being protective:
How to re-train my pain system to be less protective and how to know if I’m safe to move?
In Part Two:
We revisit the Tame The Beast Theory and look at the final two steps to a successful pain management plan:
Working with health professionals
The Road to recovery and
Getting Moving.
Tame The Beast introduce their theory about pain in two different styles, via a YouTube story or a written transcript. They highlight that Pain Scientists exist. This theory is written and produced by Professor Lorimer Moseley and Dave Moen. One of the first things to focus on is how they are now thinking about pain and its causes in a different way.
Once you have the basics grasped they talk about the goal being to retrain your pain system, enabling it to provide protection when it is needed but not when we don’t, which is discussed through some questions. You are encouraged to discuss with a health professional/consider on your own. They are:
How do I know if my pain system is being protective?
How can I re-train my pain system to be less protective
How do I know if I’m safe to move?
How do I know if my health professional understands modern pain science?
How do we begin the road to recovery?
There are some useful answers to these questions to help us on the pathway. Understanding is key before anything else and that alone is helpful as the first step to conquering the beast (pain). The theory encourages patients to realise that;
‘… pain is much more complex than a signal from damaged tissues is one of the best things you can do to start your journey to recovery – many people say that their pain began to reduce as soon as they understood it better. (https://www.tamethebeast.org/understanding)
How Do I Know if my pain system is being protective?
Ensuring health professionals have ‘checked you out’ for anything serious before starting is essential. If you already have a diagnosis of a condition(s) then there is a warning that this will make things harder.
There are some small things to look out for that include becoming more sensitive to pain. You could become more sensitive to things like noise and your surroundings or the pain may spread. It may affect your movements, thoughts and feelings.
One of the key things to note is that Pain scientists understand how this works and it makes terrific sense. They report that:
‘Many people don’t understand it (pain)–even some health professionals. One thing that we know absolutely for certain, 100%, is that an overprotective pain system is NOT a sign you have a weak personality or a weak mind; it does NOT mean you are going crazy and it does NOT mean your injury is getting worse or your body is falling apart. (https://www.tamethebeast.org/understanding)
How can I re-train my pain system to be less protective?
In very simple terms these are the top three to look at;
1. ‘Start by developing an accurate understanding of your pain system and how it can become overly protective. This overly responsive pain system results from the amazing ability of our body systems to adapt.
2. Knowledge is power and knowing that your system is overprotective, and understanding that pain is affected by thoughts, feelings, moods, sayings – the list of things is just way too long – pain can be turned up by anything that can trigger a protection response and turned down by anything that makes your system feel safe.
3. Being creative in managing your journey is likely to help. Our brains love to get new information or to be reminded of situations or activities that were full of safety messages’. (https://www.tamethebeast.org/understanding)
This section aims to not avoid challenges or new situations but to think about how we can better cope with them and begin to make some positive steps. But this isn’t a quick fix. (although it would be great if it could be) especially if you’ve been experiencing chronic pain for a significant amount of time. Getting people that are surrounding you to understand your journey could be significant. Without realising it they could be the cause. They may think you look well when you feel far from it. Then the pain system kicks into overdrive again to protect.
You need to be aware that this in the main looks at one problem. In the main points to an ‘injury’ where pain exists for 3 months or more. However, it is precious for those with chronic pain throughout the body. What we know is that this may not be the only condition that you have. Bringing in medical and mental health issues for example will make this more challenging. A balance will be required. A Pain Clinic may be required so a multidisciplinary approach can be delivered.
How Do I Know if I’m safe to move?
This is proposed to be the most important strand. In most cases, you should be working with whichever health professionals are involved in your care. (Unless you have a simple muscle sprain for example!) They should be able to help you move in the right way, for the right amount of time and when this should happen, as this quote explains;
‘Knowing and believing that you are safe needs repetition and practice, and 'stacking up the wins', as you teach your overprotective pain system that it does not need to be so protective’. (https://www.tamethebeast.org/understanding)
Summary
This took a considerable amount of time to work through and is highly complex. My first thoughts were fear and an overwhelming sense of ‘what are they talking about?’ Don’t be afraid to read, re-read, watch and read again. That is exactly why this has been written. This is a long-term approach and guidance may be required. Either medical or support from family and/or friends. Getting them to understand pain can also help. They might not realise it, but the way other people understand your pain can affect your pain.
*Please remember that these blogs are very real to us. We are on the same journey and it’s tough, slow and frustrating. Most of the Scenarios we face ourselves. Sometimes we find and print useful but at other times we don’t. However, we include it because everyone's journey is different and we like to have this passionate perseverance to help others as much as possible. To dispose of it all would be a waste and a disservice to our readers.
The All Important Links
Tame The Beast
Tame The Beast - Understanding Pain
Live Well With Pain
Pain Tool Kit - Home Page
Pain Tool Kit - Patient Resources